Kenya Tourism Board

Statistics

Physical infrastructure is an important prerequisite in creating and supporting a business environment that facilitates private sector investment, job creation, economic development and growth. The provision of adequate infrastructure and services is therefore, necessary to achieve the country’s industrialisation as targeted for by the year 2020. The sub-sectors in the infrastructure segment of the economy include roads, rail, air, maritime and inland water transportation systems, telecommunications as well as energy. Investors are invited to take part in all these sub-sectors.

a) Roads:
Kenya’s road network is estimated at 150,600 km consisting of 63,653.4 km of classified roads and the rest unclassified. The network size, traffic composition and growth rates justify the demand for road infrastructure investment in Kenya. The required investment volume can however, not be met by the public sector. The government has therefore identified the sub-sector as a lucrative investment opportunity for foreign investors.
Investment in the road sub-sector has been designed along concessioning model. The Government therefore, invites private investors to finance, design, build, operate, maintain and manage the network contracted for and then transfer the facility free of charge to the government after the expiry of a concessioned period.

b) Rail:
Railway network in Kenya has stagnated since the initial construction during the colonial days. There are 2597 km total rail network in Kenya of which 1738 km are public lines and 859 km of private line and sidings.
Investment requirements in the sub-sector involve infrastructure development and maintenance. Investment in rail services will help in reducing road haulage or cargo traffic which has been the main cause of the poor state of Kenyan roads, especially the main northern corridor: the Mombasa-Nairobi-Kampala (onwards) road. Road carnage and traffic pollution will be greatly reduced.

c) Air:
Kenya occupies a strategic position as an aviation centre in the eastern African region serving as the hub for the East, Central and Indian Ocean areas and offering transit and refueling facilities for the North/South and East/West air traffic. Major users of air transport are tourists, high value exports and imports and perishable goods transporters.
Investment opportunities are available in the expansion of the airports and their allied services especially the passenger terminal facilities.

e) Communications:
The sector includes telecommunications, postal services, internet services, telex, paging and facsimile services. The sector has been liberalised and private investors are welcome. The sector is however regulated by three organs: Communications Commission of Kenya, Postal Corporation of Kenya and Telkom Kenya Ltd.
The telecommunications sub-sector offers private operators opportunity to invest in the Telkom Kenya Ltd; second fixed line operation; third mobile telephone operation, and four other internet gateway service provision.
For more information visit www.cck.go.ke

f) Energy:
Kenya’s main sources of energy supply are electricity (hydro-, geothermal), wood fuel, petroleum, and renewable energy. Due to its critical role in development of the country, the current energy policy objectives emphasize the need for its availability and accessibility at cost effective prices and in support of sustainable socio-economic development while protecting and conserving the environment.
Investors are invited in the energy sector in the following areas:
- oil exploration
- pipeline rehabilitation
- generation of geothermal, hydropower, oil based thermal and any other
economically competitive energy source.
- wind and solar renewable energy sources are other areas of investment
possibilities.

For more information on all the sub-sectors reviewed above visit www.ipckenya.org

7) Housing:
One of the major priorities of the government is to provide decent affordable housing for the population. The current National Housing Policy commitment is to facilitate the construction of at least 150,000 housing units annually in urban areas and 300,000 units in the rural areas. The investment value within the programme period 2003 to 2007 is approximately EUR.5.6 billion. This indicates the magnitude of investment opportunity in the sector.